Seattle police arrest man suspected of attempted child rape

After posing online as a 15-year-old girl, a Seattle police detective arrested a 47-year-old man who had been suspected of trying to rape a child, the department said Monday.

The officer had gotten a complaint the man was posting an ad online “seeking a young girl.” The officer then posed as child and emailed the suspect, prompting the man to make “incriminating statements” of intent to have sex with the fake teenage girl, police said. The suspect was arrested Friday after arranging a date to meet the “girl.”

Police said the man coincidentally had been under investigation for a different crime, that of attempting to rape a child. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of sexually soliciting a minor and attempted child rape.